A Couple Fun Sessions at Arthur's and Carter

Ashley and I had a three day weekend, but the girls had school on Friday. A perfect opportunity to go climbing without the girls. The day was windy so we decided to go to Arthur's. Sheltered from the brunt of the wind, conditions were quite nice.

Some may complain that the rock at Arthur's is sharp, but no one says the boulders are too small.

After warming up, I sent the "Snake and the Skewer." I've spent a lot of days on this problem, but it didn't feel as hard as I expected it to on Friday. The top-out holds are surprisingly good, and someone has removed the sharp dead "skewer" branch from the tree that inspired the problem's name. I have mixed feelings about it. The problem might be safer now, but it was probably safe before and would have felt more committing. It's a beautiful line with really good movement, and two very sharp holds.



Ashley worked "Mole People," and we repeated some problems to finish off the session. Here's Ashley climbing a problem we call "Joe's Arete." It sit starts low, matched on the lowest decent hold.


On Sunday, we went to Carter with Brandon and Amanda. One of the keys to climbing with kids is making it fun. We brought balloons, and they had a "Ballerina Picnic."


Ashley used her traverse endurance to send "Sergeant Woody," and the rest of us spent the afternoon pumping out on it. It's a bit harder since a jug broke off it a few years ago. Here is Amanda having a go.




A couple problems got sent, everyone made progress, and the weather was perfect.
Here's Brandon contemplating the meaning of a "Rocky Top" ascent.